Malta Enterprise relocation to St Luke’s tagged at €3.87 million

The approximate cost of the relocation of the Malta Enterprise offices from the San Gwann Industrial Estate to the former Institute for Health Care in St Luke's Hospital has been tagged at €3.87 million.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech was answering a parliamentary question by Labour MP Leo Brincat.

Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Parks will relocate to the premises previously occupied by the Institute of Health Care to vacate their current base within San Gwann's industrial estate to make way for the construction of the €20 million Life Sciences Park.

Malta Enterprise's permanence in Gwardamangia is not expected to run beyond 2015 when the €200 million Corporate Village project in Mriehel, is completed. Corporate Village is to have Malta Enterprise and the VAT and Inland Revenue Departments as its first tenants.

Brincat also asked the minister to provide information as to how many direct orders and calls for application where tendered for the relocation services.

The minister said that due to the speedy nature of the relocation, 17 contracts were awarded by restrictive tendering process - which are open only to selected pre-qualified contractors - and three other contracts were awarded by direct order.

The three direct orders were awarded to Mediterranean Technical Services Ltd for providing consultancy on building services. This direct order cost €55,000 (excluding VAT). The other two direct orders were awarded to Pace & Lautier Designworkshop.

Pace & Lautier provided project management, interior design and other consultancy services for  €370,000 (excluding VAT) and architectural and structural design services for €51,000 (excluding VAT).

Minister Fenech also said that the decision to move the offices to a state-owned property had been the right decision because the rental of a similar commercial property would have cost €500,000 annually, and the investment in state-owned property would be recuperated within three years.